title: Use of GFAP-lacZ transgenic mice to determine astrocyte fate in grafts of embryonic ventral midbrain
abstract: Embryonic ventral midbrains from GFAP-lacZ transgenic mice were xenografted into the dopamine-depleted striata of adult rats. This transgenic line harbors a nuclear-targeted bacterial beta-galactosidase (beta-gal) reporter gene under transcriptional control of the human glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) promoter sequence. Five weeks post-transplantation, graft-derived astrocytes and dopaminergic neurons were visualized by dual immunocytochemistry for beta-gal and tyrosine hydroxylase (TH), respectively. This report describes the advantages associated with the use of GFAP-lacZ transgenic mice to study astrocyte fate in embryonic neural grafts.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosciences, University of New Mexico School of Medicine, Albuquerque, NM 87131, USA
authors.initials: JG
authors.lastname: Quintana
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Lopez-Colberg
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: Cunningham